Top News

3 Los Angeles County Deputies Convicted in Beating of Jail Visitor

June 25, 2015
|

Three Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were convicted Wednesday of beating a handcuffed man bloody and then lying to cover up the abuse, the Los Angeles Times reports.

A federal jury deliberated for only four hours before returning guilty verdicts against two deputies and a former sergeant, who supervised the incident and boasted about the assault in a text message to a colleague.

The trial, in which two other deputies testified about the coverup and a "code of silence" in law enforcement, was the first public airing of brutality charges to stem from a wide-ranging FBI probe into the county's jails. Nine other deputies were previously convicted of other crimes, including obstructing the FBI's investigation.

Rank-and-file officers face more charges of physical abuse in two upcoming trials, while last month former Assistant Sheriff Paul Tanaka, once the second-highest-ranking official in the department, and a captain were indicted on obstruction charges.

The weeklong trial centered on the February 2011 arrest of Gabriel Carrillo, who had come with his girlfriend and grandmother to visit his brother, who was an inmate in the Men's Central Jail. He and his girlfriend were handcuffed and taken into custody after deputies found them carrying cellphones, which is against state law. Carrillo mouthed off repeatedly to the deputies.

The case hinged on the question of whether Carrillo was handcuffed at the time of the beating. Prosecutors said he was shackled and had done nothing to justify the barrage of punches and pepper spray that deputies administered as he was pinned face-down on the floor.

Recommended Stories

Comments (6)

Displaying 1 - 6 of 6

kevCopAz @ 6/25/2015 4:40 PM

wow that day will be the best day in the life of that scum bag who will get $$$$ fro LASO . Too sad.

Front Sight @ 6/26/2015 7:23 AM

Hey kevCopAZ, the only thing"too sad" about this story is 3 officers who chose to overstep their oath. The same court system that we subject our suspects to found these officers guilty. I bleed blue and will support my brothers and sisters in uniform until my dying breath, but when you show blatant disregard for one's constitutional rights because the subject "mouthed off" then you have no right to wear the uniform.

jreb @ 6/27/2015 11:51 PM

Front Sight, your comments about the CO's are spot on. A jury saw the evidence and found that they disgraced the uniform...they deserve what they get.

However, that is not mutually exclusive to what KevCopAz was saying. It sounds like the victim WAS a scumbag and it IS sad that taxpayers are now going to have to pay his inevitable law suit. The fact that the CO’s abused their positions does nothing to diminish the fact that Carrillo is a criminal douche that does not deserve the payday he will no doubt now get.

Join Retired LEO @ 6/28/2015 12:55 PM

In the unfortunate situation I think that he did what he did in hopes that it would turn out exactly as it did. I worked a jail for 10 years and they will do whatever to try to press buttons. Fresh officers should have been brought in to deal with him. That being said there is no excuse for hitting a perp in handcuffs. We went through a lot of spit masks and most of us wore goggles.

Tone @ 6/29/2015 12:54 AM

Yeah this guy will win a healthy lawsuit that should come out of the pockets of those who beat his butt! Their has to be some level of restraint for the professionals. And beating anyone in handcuffs is a coward move. You get no points for that! Violating ones rights is just as cowardly. Don't wear the uniform if you wanna be in a league of your own..

Concerned Dad @ 7/4/2015 8:17 AM

And you guys wonder why the citizens are beginning to turn on you and film every Brest you take. Just listen to your comments. It's about the $$$$$ to you. 3 cops beat a man senseless and you are coming up with ideas to say he wanted it.

Hopefully lev ops is not s real cop.

Loading...

Join the Discussion

POLICE Magazine does not tolerate comments that include profanity, personal attacks or antisocial behavior (such as "spamming" or "trolling"). This and other inappropriate content or material will be removed. We reserve the right to block any user who violates this, including removing all content posted by that user.